Italian police caught gang that smuggled migrants into France in vans

Date of publication: 30 01 2017, 20:03

Italian police said on Monday they had smashed a criminal gang that smuggled migrants packed into vans across the border with France for up to 1,000 euros each.

Police issued more than 30 arrest warrants for human trafficking after a two-year investigation that documented dozens of smuggling incidents. About half the suspects targeted by the warrants lived outside Italy, the statement said.

Citing one bust, Milan prosecutor Ilda Boccassini said police had found 40 migrants crammed in the back of a van that had been padlocked shut.